Handonghun: "Democratic Party Became a Host for Pro-North Forces... Restore National Intelligence Service's Counterintelligence Authority After General Election Victory"

Transfer of Major Criminal Investigation Authority from NIS to Police Starting This Year
"Does the Democratic Party Have Extra Points for Drunk Driving?"

Handonghun, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the Central Party Office in Yeouido, Seoul on the 7th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Han Dong-hoon, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, expressed his determination to restore the National Intelligence Service's (NIS) counterintelligence investigation authority, which was transferred to the police starting this year.

On the 7th, at an emergency response meeting held at the Yeouido party headquarters, Chairman Han said, "After winning the general election this April, we will propose and pass a legislative amendment to restore the NIS's counterintelligence investigation authority," adding, "(Counterintelligence investigation authority) belongs to the realm of intelligence and espionage, not investigation, so it is difficult for the police or prosecution to handle."

He continued, "In most countries, intelligence agencies handle counterintelligence work to catch spies, but the Democratic Party of Korea abolished that," emphasizing, "Representative Lee Jae-myung is giving the Democratic Party as a host to the successors of the Unified Progressive Party (Tongjindan) and pro-North Korean forces in order to survive himself, which increases the necessity of counterintelligence investigation authority."

He further stated, "If this continues, eventually the successors of Tongjindan spies and their associates will enter the National Assembly with Lee’s personal guarantee," and added, "The National Assembly has the right to request documents, so being able to access core materials from the prosecution, police, NIS, and Ministry of National Defense is a very serious problem."

The Democratic Party passed the 2020 amendment to the NIS Act unilaterally in the National Assembly, transferring the counterintelligence investigation authority from the NIS to the police.

Chairman Han also continued his offensive against the Democratic Party and Representative Lee personally. He pointed out, "It seems that all those with a history of drunk driving in the Democratic Party are being nominated," and questioned, "Representative Lee himself has a drunk driving record; does the Democratic Party have some kind of bonus points for drunk driving?"

Regarding the fact that the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office arrested and investigated Mr. Oh, a former official of the Gyeonggi Provincial Governor’s Secretariat, last month, he said, "It appears to be due to the misuse of the corporate card by Representative Lee and his spouse," adding, "This means that the necessity for arrest or the evidence for charges against a former Gyeonggi Province employee was recognized not by the investigative agencies but by a judge." He emphasized, "Mr. Oh was the predecessor of Mr. Jo Myeong-hyeon, who exposed the corporate card allegations, so the tax and corporate card misuse was not temporary but has been carried out over a very long period." Furthermore, he said, "If Representative Lee wants votes from the electorate, shouldn’t he answer this? If he does not want to talk about it, then someone else from the Democratic Party should provide a very reasonable explanation about this."